illustrated journal

Archive for November, 2008

In Parkwood, you don’t choose who you’re going to live with, so really anything can happen. You will have to share your life with students from countries you didn’t know about, weirdos, or teary first-years. And thanks to the quality of the walls, doors and windows, after a few weeks you know everything there is to know about your housemates, whether you were curious or not. You also have to accept the idea that there’s only one shower for the house, that some of your milk will regularly disappear in mysterious circumstances, that someone will probably break your favourite cup, and that as soon as you leave the kitchen (the only communal space), the others will immediately start talking about you and disclose what you hoped would remain a secret, if only a little longer. Here are my housemates’ favourite objects. I tried to find items that will tell you something about who they are but will keep me safe enough that I won’t be thrown out of the house.

Now that I’ve been blogging for two months, I’ve decided that it’s time to disclose a few informations on what I use to draw and write for Scones and the Queen. First of all, I’m sure most of you recognized the Moleskine sketchbook that is featured on all the pictures. I really like how sturdy it is, as well as the quality of the paper and the fact that it is not quite white. Unfortunately, I cannot use watercolours on it (although it may be a good thing to spare you that). My favourite pen is a Pentel brush with black ink, but I’ve started to use Faber-Castell artist pens in sepia more and more because of their natural tone and the different widths I can choose from. When all is done, I take a picture (usually on my window sill) with my new Canon camera, which I bought on purpose for my blog and my year abroad. I’m very happy with it and would recommend it to anyone. And finally, I use Photoshop for minor alterations, and WordPress, which is very user-friendly. Now, if you want to start your own journal, you know everything you need, but please don’t draw better than me!

Midterm blues is the stroke felt by all students when paths become muddy and paved with puddles, when the wind is so strong that it tears umbrellas to shreds, when dusk takes over at four, and essay deadlines make us feel more guilty than usual for not filling our very short days with studious hours. Midterm crisis hits you when you realize that this term, again, your lecturers will fail to be amazed by your brilliant papers, recognize your genius, and secure you academic fame. In spite of what the University of Kent leaflets promised me, this is not so much a life-changing experience as an additional year of studies. Never mind, I can deal with this. I just need a few creamy drinks, a handful of good novels, and a warm place to wait for Christmas.

People at home worry that being in England, I’ll be forced to eat terrible food. They don’t even need to close their eyes to imagine squishy canned beans, bland boiled food with mint, and mouldy toast bread. But their opinion would be very different had they ever sat in a traditional tearoom for high tea or made a nice pot pie filled with beef and ale stew on a rainy day. Thanks to my unquenchable curiosity when it comes to food (and to Fearnley-Whittingstall’s kind guidance), I don’t think I’ll ever get bored with British food. I love to try new recipes, and more often than not I don’t even know what the result is supposed to look like, or taste like, before I see it for myself. So it was with pikelets, and it turns out they’re great!